ew928

Unobtanium.

And I thought I wuz in the Porsche forum.

Bret928

Can't I just paint mine to look like its carbon fiber like all those kids do with their Honda's hood? That's got'a be worth a couple horse power or seconds of a road course at least.

Imo000

Better yet. Just wrap the original brace with CF and you’lll get the look AND added strength to the existing bar.

Bret928

Wow! That sounds like it'd be one fancy upgrade. Some of that CF contact paper you find at Pep Boys would really work great for that.

Might have to squese that mod into my budget too.

Jadz928

Just installed the Schnell strut brace. First of all, it's an quality looking piece. The ends are bead blasted aluminum, stainless steel hardware. Installation is easy and I'm most impressed with the preload. One end is a right-hand thread, the other a left-hand. So after installation, you can turn the carbon fibre rod to set preload, then hand-snug the lock nuts. Very cool. And it feels very tight. My 170 lb. frame was not able to flex the rod. Great value.

Alan

I got mine too - it is nice - very stiff - I cannot bend it at all - even off the car it is like a rock. Just about 1lb total weight with all hardware.

As Jim says the adjustment is very nicely done & quite finely threaded - the only thing I'd wish for a bit different is that the location holes for the end clamp to bar are just a little too big introducing a slight opportuniy for movement there (of course you can bolt it down really tight but still...) I have added some very thin wall brass tube stock in an almost perfect size (cut slot) to snug it up further so it cannot move.

The aluminum end inserts go a decent way inside the CF tube They are about 2" long - not clear how they are attached to the tube - glued somehow presumably.

The threaded portion of the ends is 1 1/2" long.

True there isn't any other carbon fiber on a stock car - but its actually pretty subtle and is better looking than the stock strut - certainly better than my bent one!

I'll also test it for 'give' again when it gets good and (Phoenix) hot...

Overall I thnk its a great deal on a well made and good looking part .

Alan

Mike Frye

...Awaiting the results of the 'Phoenix hot' test.

If Carl is right and 220 deg. is the 'weakening point' you may have issues.

Alan, please keep us posted.

ew928

Alan,
Do you have a IR temp gun to see roughly how hot the CF brace gets under the wilting AZ sun after a healthy drive?

Playing around with the Harbor Freight IR temp sensor I got I only saw about 180-190F as the hotter parts of the engine bits and coolant pipes. Ambient temp was around 80F.

Jadz928

Alan wrote:
It may be possible that the slots are there for a reason. To provide the weakest link. In a situation where the bar is loaded out ("being pulled"), the force could allow the slots to give before the CF glue joint. Thus saving the brace.

I installed mine with the bolts to the outer extents of the slots with this in mind.

Alan

Jim,
The end mounting slots (oval holes) are in this respect not so different than the stock brace - I assume this is due to fit tolerances. i accepted that this is OK since its like stock. However given the new strut is adjustable min clearance holes would have been better and would work for any config with no give...

Actually though I meant the SS allen bolt/nut between the end mount & bar has too much clearance - about 2mm of movement in my case (1mm each end) so the holes are just too big. The stock bar doesn't have this potential movement at all and this is less easy to bolt down tight (only 1 bolt & less surface area). This is the place where I added the (very thin) brass bushing around the bolt where it goes though the bracket & the bar end. It now has no movement there.

It was a bit of a pain to finesse the fit - the tube stock I used was a bit too small and a bit too thick. So I cut a slot down the length of the tube to open up the diameter a bit and had to file down the interior to reduce the thickness a little...

Still now its a perfect fit ..

The end slots while they could be deleted are no worse than stock. I don't think they will 'give' and even if they did I suspect that may stress any bar more dynamically..

I will however install as you did to the end of the slots for no possible movement under strut compression.

Despite this - I do still think its a good product - only the perfectionist in me wanted to fix this minor issue - it may well work fine without changes for most.

Alan

Carl Fausett

Its those ends that slide into the carbon fiber tube that have given way on others. There is no effective way to "glue" between a carbon fiber tube and a metal end piece. Just keep your eyes on them, they may be fine depending on how agressively you drive.

You will need to do some detective work on that - hard carnering pulls the bar apart and would slide the ends out from the tube. But when you stop the car and check, the ends are being pushed together and it may look like they have not moved.

As to the temp issue - again remember there are high temp carbon fiber resins and regular temp resins. I do not know which you have. For the car in Phoenix, go warm it up on a nice hot day. Pop the hood, and press down on your CF bar with your finger. This will give you your answer.

Alan

Carl - this time of year everyday is a nice hot day (and some not so nice but hot)... brace is not in yet - was fine tuning it yesterday... soon I'll have more details.

Alan

Alan

I did install it this morning and it certainly cranks down tight. I will check this afternoon for hot play after driving home. Carl to your point - I will remove it in about a week and take a look at the ends. It will have had some spirited driving by then.

BTW How easy is it to drill CF? does this weaken it more than similar drilling into a metal tube? - I assume that riveting it to the aluminum carrier would be the best mechanical means for improvement if the glue were to let go? thinking about it just in case...

I must say it does look very nice installed - but I just have to do something about the bolts for the strut ends - the grungy old ones are quite a contrast. If I can't clean them up whan I take the brace off again I'll need to find some nice SS replacements.

Alan

Carl Fausett

Drilling into CF is very easy - like drilling fibreglass. DO NOT BREATH THE DUST - known carcinogen. NEVER sand Carbon Fiber.

When we shape CF, we cover it with masking tape and then drill or bandsaw through the tape. Keeps the edges from fraying at the cut.

Tom. M

Would seem to me that if the bar is bowed..then it's compressive forces acting on the bar...as long as the "stretching" is less than 2" on both sides (depth of aluminum end in carbon fiber tube) then no biggie...it's not as if this thing is truly tied to the suspension like Louie Otts or Mark A's bar..now if it were tied to the shock towers I would be worried..but it's not.so no worries..looks good...keeps the fenders in place. ..
Later,
Tom
89GT mit new Carbon fiber fender holder bar thingie... haha.